The Alternative Tone

Folk from Texas.   The Oh Hellos return with their sophomore release, Through The Deep, Dark Valley. More of the same female/male vocals indie folk with the same vibe as Mumford & Sons. Already trending on bandcamp on the day of its release, these guys are probably going to explode. Download Here RIYL: Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons Highly Recommended

Playlist Of The Week Paradise by Wild Nothing (taken from Nocturne) Breezeblocks by Alt -J (taken from An Awesome Wave)                                            T New Partner by Palace Music (taken from Viva Last Blues)  Drift Dive by The Antlers (taken from the Undersea EP)  White Noise by Exit Music (taken from Passage)                                                                                     

 Pop punk / hardcore compilation from Coffee & Cigarettes Clothing Co, featuring Broadway Calls, No Trigger, Apologies, I Have None, Stickup Kid, Our Time Down Here and many more. Download Here RIYL: Modern pop punk and hardcore.

Indie folk from Providence. Download Here RIYL: If Bright Eyes felt like Conor Oberst was secretly a pop punk fan.

Indie folk from California. Download Here RIYL: mewithoutYou crossed with Elliott Smith

Indie pop from Utah. Download Here RIYL: Death Cab For Cutie, The Shins, Royseven Highly Recommended

After years of fronting popular indie punk act  I Am The Avalanche  and formerly hardcore punk band  The Movielife,  accomplished New York songwriter  Vinnie Caruana  is announcing plans to release his debut solo EP out early 2013 on  I Surrender / Run For Cover Records. Between writing the new album for his full-time project I Am The Avalanche, Caruana has recently entered the studio with RX Bandits member Steve Choi at Bright Mountain studios in California where he'll remain until October 27th. Says Caruana of the new release, "I really felt like I owed this to myself and to all the people who have supported my music for so long. I won't let either of us down." More details on the new release, including music, tour dates and more coming soon!

Emo from Illinois Download Here RIYL: Algernon Cadwallader, Old Gray

Pop punk from Richmond Download Here RIYL: Blink 182, Better Luck Next Time

Shoegaze from Chicago.   Free Download   RIYL: Buffalo Skin

Rough around the edges post-rock from New York. Download Here RIYL: If all the really lo-fi emo from the 90s was actually post-rock.

Midwest emo from Chicago. Download Here RIYL: The Promise Ring, Texas Is The Reason

Midwest emo/ post-hardcore from Moorhead. Download Here RIYL: Snowing, Midwest Pen Pals

Midwest emo from Phildelphia.  Dowload Here RIYL: Empire! Empire! I Was A Lonely Estate, Midwest Pen Pals 

Midwest emo from Worchester   Download Here RIYL: Brave Bird, Old Gray, Dads

Guitarist Jake Langley has parted ways with Handguns. The departure was mutual and amicable. Handguns will still be taking part on their upcoming tour with Set It Off supporting their brand new record  Angst,  out now on Pure Noise Records.   Tour Dates w/ Set It Off, Sparks The Rescue Nov 03           Sons of Hermann Hall Dallas , TX Nov 04           White Rabbit San Antonio , TX Nov 05           Geo's Mcallen , TX Nov 06           The Parish Austin , TX Nov 08           The Underground Mesa , AZ Nov 09           The Backyard Yuma , AZ Nov 10            Soma   San Diego , CA Nov 11 ...

Animal Style Records  is giving away a free 10-track digital sampler, which includes songs from all 10 of their bands that are playing this year’s Fest in Gainesville , FL.  Download It Here Below is the tracklisting for the comp which also includes a coupon code for 10% off the Animal Style web store. Below is the artwork which features venues/set times for each of the bands’ Fest performances. Label owner Matt Medina says, "Last year I went to The Fest for the first time after missing it for too many years. I am excited to return to Gainesville again this year joining 10 bands I've had the pleasure of working with over the years. To both celebrate the event and introduce folks to some new tunes I decided to put together a free digital compilation of these 10 bands making the trek to this years Fest. There are some newer faces and some familiar ones that have become my extended family. Each track I picked, selecting my favorite from each release and ho...

No Sleep Records have posted their fall 2012 label sampler featuring the likes of; La Dispute, No Trigger, Touché Amoré, Balance And Composure, Into It. Over It, TRC, Major League, Lowtalker, Broadway Calls and The Casket Lottery.                Download it here.

Indie pop led by piano ragtime sounds. Download Here RIYL: fun., theatre music

Indie rock from Santa Rosa.  Download Her e  RIYL: The Frames

Hardcore from Ohio. Download Here RIYL: Every Time I Die crossed with La Dispute.

Indie rock from Milwaukee. Download Here RIYL: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Temper Trap, handclaps

All sorts of indie from Rockville. RIYL:  Indie music!  Download Here

Indie tinged pop-rock from Chicago. Download Here RIYL:  Anberlin, Anarbor 

Lo-fi, female vocals folk. Download Here RIYL: Kimya Dawson, lo-fi-ness!

Nick Stutsman's new band, Canadian Wedding have started a Facebook page and posted a video of themselves playing a song. Like them on Facebook  here . This sounds exciting.

McAllen, TX indie rock outfit  Sick/Sea  have announced a string of new dates around the October 16 release of their Autumn + Colour Records label debut EP,  Moral Compass . Tour Dates: Oct 22 @ Buzzbin Super Stage: Canton , OH Oct 24 @ Lit Lounge: NYC, NY  (Toro Booking CMJ Showcase  with  Victor Villarreal- Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls) Oct 25 @ Dock Street : Staten Island , NY Oct 26 @ Downtown Quarterback: Endicott , NY Oct 27 @ Studio Luloo: Oaklyn , NJ Oct 28 @ Deep South: Raleigh , NC Oct 29 @ The Saloon At North Carolina Music Factory: Charlotte , NC Oct 30 @ The Warehouse: Cleveland , TN Oct 31 @ The Drunken Unicorn: Atlanta , GA Nov 2 @ Gallery 13: Columbus , GA Nov 3 @ Cafe Coco: Nashville , TN Nov 4 @ Murphey’s: Memphis , TN Nov 6 @ Roxy’s: Columbia , MO Nov 7 @ Plush: St. Louis , MO Nov 8 @ Hannibal-LaGrange University : Hannibal , MO Nov 9 @ Blackthorn Pub: Joplin , MO ...

City Lights  will be releasing a digital acoustic EP on December 18, 2012 via InVogue Records.   The EP will have 5 brand new acoustic tracks of songs off of their debut album "In It To Win It".

I recently spoke to Nick Stutsman about his new band Canadian Wedding, the current music scene and awesome guitar tunings.  Hello Nick Stutsman!  Hi Kelly Doherty! How would you describe your music for the unacquainted?  I guess I would first ask them if they've ever heard any twinkly band ever and tell them it  probably just sounds exactly like that. Or, you know, a whiney teenager that lacks originality crying all over his guitar. I'd say I'll try and promote the first description a little more, haha. What are you up to at the moment? A few months ago, my band (Park Jefferson) kind of fell apart. I moved to Philadelphia, our other guitarist moved to Tennessee, and our drummer was already in a few other bands (most notably William Bonney), so we sort of decided to just call it quits. While in Philadelphia, I started a band (pennypack!) that went nowhere, mainly because I moved home to Michigan. Philadelphia just wasn't a good fit for me, I guess...

I recently spoke with Keith Latinen, co-owner of the extremely awesome label, Count Your Lucky Stars . The Alternative Tone loves Count Your Lucky Stars Records. So should you.  For the record, who are the people behind Count Your Lucky Stars Records? And what are their roles? My name is Keith, and I run the record label with my wife, Cathy.  I run most of the day to day activities, from packing orders to making sure everything is getting where it needs to be going to calling/e-mailing bands and companies, etc.  Cathy also packs a million orders every week, and when I’m gone on tour and she can’t go, she has to run the whole show.  We both wear many hats, we both do a little of everything.  What's the history behind CYLS?  We started it as a vehicle to put out records for our band, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) and decided that we had too many talented friends not to help out.  The whole thing grew every organically....

For the record, who is Emo Side Project, and how did it come to fruition?  Hi! My name is Andrew. Emo Side Project is my solo project that I started in 2002. Basically, I had written a few songs for a band I was in at the time but we broke up so I decided to use them to start a solo project. These were the first four songs on the self-titled album. I’ve always loved acoustic guitar so I think that’s why for most of its existence ESP has been acoustic. As Jesse Lacey would say, I’m a sucker for anything acoustic. I’ve experimented with a lot of different sounds though. How would you describe Emo Side Project's sound for the unacquainted?  The sound has changed a lot over the years and it’s a little different each album, especially during the beginning of ESP. The first few albums are pretty standard singer-songwriter songs, I think. Then I began to incorporate piano into the songs. After that I experimented with writing pop punk influenced songs. Then the sound chan...